Learning programs and educational apps for school aged children

We all know, being a parent of multiples is hard. And yes, it does mean that we may need to reach for the i-pads and tablets a bit more than we would like to. Don’t beat yourself up about it, there is no judgment here!

The below list is more for older children, which you can use to compliment your children’s learning journey guilt free!

Please note: These programs are not affiliated with Twinfo in anyway.

Maths based programs

Mathletics

Supporting mathematics learning for students across Australia, both in the classroom and at home, through interactive activities, games and challenges. By blending intrinsic and extrinsic motivations and rewards, and using best-practice theories of gamified learning, Mathletics keeps students engaged with maths. With fresh activities, challenges and regularly updated content, Mathletics always has something new to learn and fun to do. Mathletics has a free trial for 48 hours

DadsWorksheets

One Dad. Four daughters. 9,288 worksheets… and counting!

Repetition is the path to mastery, and so the logic goes with timed math drills. This site has a growing collection of over 8,000 PDF math worksheets with answer. There are also educational calculators that help illustrate how problems are solved, not just provide answers.

Hit the Button

Mental maths and calculation skills practice for 5-11 year olds. In Hit the Button you answer as many questions as possible in minute-long games, or you can practise without the pressure of a countdown timer. Questions are randomly generated which means it is very replayable. The game has been designed for children, with large, widely spaced buttons.

Spellodrome

Enter the exciting world of Spellodrome. An engaging array of activities, games and challenges – all powered by your own word lists. Designed by educators, Spellodrome encourages independent learning and the development of critical spelling awareness. Visual, Phonological, Morphemic and Etymological – we’ve got you covered. Spelladrome have a 14 day free trial.

Spelling City

A K-12 supplemental literacy tool that provides spaced and repeated practice to build vocabulary retention and reading comprehension. 40+ activities help students hear, say, write, break down and play with words. FREE version available.

Squiggle Park

Squiggle Park is built on the concept that practice is the best route to mastery. Therefore every player, regardless of skill, must play and master every stage in a world. In Squiggle Park, we define mastery to be a combination of accuracy, speed and context. Students will encounter the same material in different games. For example, sometimes they’ll hear a phoneme and have to find the matching grapheme, sometimes they will start with the grapheme and look to collect all the matching phonemes and sometimes they will be trying to identify objects that start (or end) with a given grapheme/phoneme.

History based programs

History For Kids

Try History for Kids, which is a free online history network. The website is packed with articles, worksheets and even a quiz on each section. You will find cool games, videos, worksheets on many historical events that will help you understand those that have gone before us.

Mystery Doug

Free, easy science for remote learning. We help kids stay curious by
creating better explanations. Most questions that children ask, grownups
simply don’t know how to answer. How does a magnet stick to a fridge? Can
animals get sunburn? Why do some people have different accents?

Answering these questions—and thousands more—in a truly engaging way is hard, and it takes time and knowledge (of facts and pedagogy) that most adults don’t have at the tip of their tongues, and answers you find via Google or on Wikipedia aren’t made for kids.

Coding based programs

Coding Hour

Try a one-hour tutorial designed for all ages in over 45 languages. Code.org increases diversity in computer science by reaching students of all backgrounds where they are — at their skill-level, in their schools, and in ways that inspire them to keep learning. You can code with Anna and Elsa, Minecraft, Dance Party, Basketball, Moana and hundreds more. As a bonus, you can get the cheat sheets, so don’t panic. And best of all it is entirely FREE.

Scratch

With Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations. Scratch is designed especially for ages 8 to 16, but is used by people of all ages. The ability to code computer programs is an important part of literacy in today’s society. When people learn to code in Scratch, they learn important strategies for solving problems, designing projects, and communicating ideas. Scratch is a FREE program to use.

Learning to type programs

Dance Mat typing

Typing Club

Keep practicing each lesson until you get all five stars. It really doesn’t take much to learn, a few minutes a day for one to two weeks and you will be a pro! You do not need to create an account. However, as you go through the lessons, you can create an optional profile in order to save your progress. This is a FREE site.

General and mixed subject programs

Studyladder

Studyladder offers a sequential learning program that includes videos, interactive activities, worksheets and assessments. It caters for all learning needs from kindergarten to the end of primary school. Study ladder has a limited free version and a premium version.

Khan Academy

Join Khan Academy to get personalised help with what you’re studying or to learn something completely new. Khan Academy offers practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalised learning dashboard that empower learners to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. Tackle math, science, computer programming, history, art history, economics, and more.

Khan Academy Kids

For children aged two to seven. In addition to building early literacy, reading, writing, language, and math skills, the app encourages creativity and builds social-emotional skills. It is 100% free, with no ads and no in-app purchases.

Education NSW

Find one-week programs of learning activities organised by stage. The activities are designed to be appropriate for students learning remotely. Each stage has an online and offline version of the program.